The eighth-largest U.S. cable operator,with 1.2 million basic-video subscribers,Suddenlink in the fourth quarter will begindistributing cobranded TiVo PremiereDVRs, as well as non-digital video recorderset-tops, to provide a multiroom DVRsolution. The companies also plan to developbroadband-enabled services thatwill let customers access Internet applicationson their TVs.

Suddenlink CEO Jerry Kent said one ofthe key reasons the MSO teamed upwith TiVo was to let customers accessbroadband-delivered content, includingYouTube clips, right on their TVs. Ultimately,St. Louis-based Suddenlink concluded itcould either swim against the Internet tideor go with the flow.

“Our customers are going to get broadbandcontent [on TV] one way or another,”Kent said. “We can either get on board andbring them premier entertainment optionsfrom many different avenues — orwe could try to ignore it and protect ourcustomer base.”

Suddenlinkchose to go withTiVo rather thanits current set-top vendors, which includeMotorola, Cisco Systems and Pace, becausethe TiVo user interface is better and the DVRcompany is much farther along on broadbandintegration, Kent said.

“Our embedded legacy set-top [supplier] basehas not been particularly innovative over thelast several years,” Kent said. “I mean, look atwhat they offer. And look what we can bringto market with TiVo.”

In addition to YouTube content, Suddenlink’sTiVo boxes are planned to deliver musicservices such as Pandora and Rhapsody,as well as movie info and ticketing fromFandango.

Asked about other services — like Amazon.com, which is available through retailTiVo DVRs — Kent said the company is stillnegotiating with content partners. He saidSuddenlink would not necessarily get a feefor Internet content the accessed throughthe service. The MSO last year announceda deal with Blockbuster to provide VODservices under the “Blockbuster” brand,while TiVo also has a partnership with themovie-rental chain.

TiVo’s Premiere DVRs use an interface thatruns on Adobe Flash, which is intended toallow third-party developers to take advantageof the TiVo platform for new interactive-TV applications, said CEO TomRogers. But cable operators still maintaincontrol over the services and content theyoffer to subscribers.

“What we think is critical is that the cableoperator be in a position to frame that experience,”Rogers said.

TiVo has a similar deal with RCN, whichis offering cobranded TiVo DVRs to customersin New York, Washington, D.C., andother markets, and also has agreementswith the U.K.’s Virgin Media and Spanishcable operator ONO to develop DVRs andnon-DVR set-top boxes with the TiVo userinterface.

While TiVo has distribution dealswith Comcast, Cox Communicationsand DirecTV to provideTiVo-based services, those are peripheralto the operators’ primary DVR and guidestrategies.

Like RCN, however, Suddenlink willnot exclusively rely on TiVo DVRs and settops.“We have an embedded legacy basethat we’re not planning on abandoning,”Kent said.

Interactive program guides Suddenlinkcurrently uses include i-Guide, developedby the GuideWorks joint venture of Comcastand Rovi, as well as the Scientific AtlantaResident Application (SARA).

Kent, citing competitive reasons, wouldn’tdisclose the markets in which Suddenlinkwill debut the TiVo Premiere offerings, butsaid the first systemswill be in theWest, which wouldindicate somewherein Texas orOklahoma. Suddenlink’sfootprintspans Arkansas,Louisiana, NorthCarolina, Oklahoma,Texas and WestVirginia.

Separately, TiVois still waiting forresolution in itsyears-long patent litigation against DishNetwork, with a decision currently pendingbefore the U.S. Court of Appeals for theFederal Circuit. The DVR company also hassued Verizon Communications and AT&T,asserting patent infringement.

Highlights of Suddenlink’s TiVo deal:

• Suddenlink will begin offering TiVo Premiere DVRs and a multiroom DVR solution in Q4 2010, initially in Texas and/or Oklahoma.• TiVo will for the first time deliver non-DVR set-top hardware to an operator.• TiVo will integrate the operator's VOD systems, including those from SeaChange International, with the new boxes.